Does an Advanced Degree Pay Off? – MeasuringU

What’s the value of a degree?

While most discussions on the cost and value of a university education focus on the undergraduate degree, getting a bachelor’s degree isn’t really a question that’s asked in the UX world. Almost all UX professionals (93%–97%) surveyed over the last decade have at least a bachelor’s degree, suggesting that an undergraduate degree is usually required to get into the field.

But what about an advanced degree? Is it worth the time and money to pursue a master’s or PhD?

In a previous MeasuringU article, the financial value of a PhD was estimated to be $16,880 per year of employment in 2009. After accounting for 49.1% inflation since 2009, that would be $25,168 in August 2024 dollars.

In this article, we analyze data from the 2024 UXPA Salary Survey to see whether there has been any change in the financial value of a PhD, and we expanded our previous analysis to include master’s degrees.

For almost 20 years, MeasuringU has worked with the UXPA on their periodic salary surveys, using regression analysis of that data to build salary calculators. Historically, about 10% of respondents to the UXPA salary surveys have a PhD.

Using the 2009 Regression Model

In 2009, we used a simple model with only three predictors: years of experience, manager or not a manager, and PhD or not a PhD. These three variables accounted for 32% of the variation in salary. This equation shows the value of a PhD in 2009 was $16,880:

2009 Salary = $52,484 + $2,941 (Years of Experience) + $16,880 (PhD) + $11,108 (Manager)

When we replicated the same regression model with the 2024 data, the value of a PhD increased to $23,695:

2024 Salary = $82,172 + $3,672 (Years of Experience) + $23,695 (PhD) + $28,852 (Manager)

Although the simple model in 2024 is less predictive than in 2009 (accounting for 17% of the variation in salary versus 32%), it still provides statistically significant predictive power.

So, did the value of a PhD go up substantially in the last 15 years? In nominal dollar terms, yes, but so did the cost of living and just about everything else. If we account for inflation and adjust the 2009 data by multiplying the factors by 1.491 ($100 in 2009 is worth $149.10 today), the values in constant 2024 dollars become:

2009 Adjusted Salary = $78,253 + $4,385 (Years of Experience) + $25,168 (PhD) + $16,562 (Manager)

After adjustment for inflation, the 2009 and 2024 values for most of the variables were reasonably close, with a slightly higher baseline in 2024, a slightly lower value for years of experience, and a slightly lower value for a PhD (a 6% reduction of $1,473). Only the value of being a manager seems to have increased.

Using the 2024 Regression Model

Over the years, we’ve added variables that have improved the quality of the salary models, especially variables related to where people work (by country and, within the U.S., by region). The addition of new variables can change the extent to which previously used variables account for variation in the dependent variable (which is salary in these models), so we checked for that using all the significant predictors from the 2024 model.

Table 1 shows the significant predictors and their values from the 2024 UXPA salary model (accounting for about 50% of the variation in salary). Some variables increase the baseline salary (e.g., advanced degrees, seniority, working in California) while others decrease it (e.g., being an entry-level employee).

Table 1: Significant predictors and their values from the regression model of the UXPA 2024 salary data.

The value of the PhD in this model is slightly higher than it was in the 2024 version of the three-predictor model, coming in at $25,309, just a bit higher (about half of one percent) than the inflation-adjusted amount of $25,168 in 2009.

Having a master’s degree was not a significant predictor in the 2009 salary model, but it was significant in the 2024 model. Referring to Table 1, having a master’s degree was predicted to increase annual salaries by $11,793. Historically, just under half of respondents to the UXPA salary surveys have a master’s degree.

People with a PhD usually also have a master’s degree, so the first step on this typical path adds $11,793 to annual salaries, and the second step increases annual salaries by an additional $13,516.

So, is getting a master’s or PhD a no-brainer way to increase your take-home pay?

These regression models show that advanced degrees tend to substantially increase annual salaries, but the time required to obtain these degrees means their recipients often are slower to begin receiving professional salaries than those who obtain UX employment without a graduate degree—the opportunity cost of graduate education.

Figure 1 shows a simplified model of the opportunity cost of graduate education with lines for no graduate degree, master’s degree only (assumed to take two years), and PhD (assumed to take an additional three years).

Consistent with similar modeling using the 2009 UXPA data, the assumptions in Figure 1 are that there is no education cost (full scholarship or reimbursement by one’s employer) and the student is not employed while pursuing degrees. Consequently, Figure 1 shows those with a master’s degree starting two years after and those with a PhD starting five years after those without a graduate degree.

Figure 1: “Lifetime” earnings of PhD and master’s degree recipients vs. not having an advanced degree.

Figure 1 shows that it would take 17 years (the crossover point in the graph) for the increased salary from a master’s to offset the two years of lost income. Those with master’s degrees would have 15 years of salary versus 17 for those without advanced degrees.

For PhDs, the break-even point doesn’t happen until the 24^th year (after 19 years of working). The cumulative income for PhDs didn’t exceed those with master’s degrees until the 31^st year (29 years of work for those with master’s degrees, 26 years of work for PhDs).

At the end of 35 years of employment, the estimated cumulative income for those without graduate degrees with this model is $3,049,581. For those with master’s degrees, it is $3,212,331 (5% more than those without graduate degrees), and for PhDs, it is $3,254,659 (7% more than those without graduate degrees and 1% more than those with master’s degrees). It takes a while for those with graduate degrees to catch up because by the second year of work, those who started earlier had made $122,100, and by the fifth year, they had made $317,105. It takes over 30 years for a PhD to catch up with the cumulative salary of a master’s degree, suggesting that the master’s degree might be a reasonable final goal for those in the UX field who are otherwise not interested in achieving a PhD (consistent with almost half of surveyed UX professionals having a master’s degree but only 10% having a PhD).

But is there a way to gain the benefits of a master’s or PhD without incurring the lost income? Well, you could do what both Jim and Jeff did and pursue advanced degrees while working and not taking time out of the workforce. It’s a lot to juggle and not always possible, but if you can, you get the best of both worlds.

Given these outcomes and their similarity to the previous analysis, it seems appropriate to end by quoting Jeff’s 2009 conclusion:

I haven’t met a PhD in the field who regrets their commitment and the long hours in the library with drunken undergraduates. A PhD opens doors to academic positions (where it is usually required) and may even help you get a job faster. I do know many who have or had considered pursuing a PhD full-time and wondered if they could justify it financially. Individual differences will play a large role in compensation, but the data here suggests that on average a full-time PhD should be pursued for more than just financial reasons.